Town of Marana Special Events Coorinator Monique Hagberg provided a message to the Marana News/Explorer News about all the great free, family friendly events the Town of Marana is hosting.
The Town of Marana has made a commitment to providing free, family-friendly entertainment for our residents. Whether you want a relaxing night under the stars or an activity-filled afternoon at our major festivals, we have something for you.
MOVIES IN MARANA
This past weekend, we had our first free Movie in Marana with a showing of Warner Bros. Picture’s “Wonder Woman” at San Lucas Community Park. Don’t worry if you missed it, because there’s a lot more to come. This movie series changes location throughout the year to showcase Marana parks including Ora Mae Harn District Park, the Splash Pad at Marana Heritage River Park and Dove Mountain Park.
The diverse locations provide fun programming to go along with the films. Our Saturday, April 21 showing of Pixar’s “Coco” will coincide with Marana Parks and Recreation’s “Camping Under the Stars” event. Whether you want to camp out for the night or just catch the film with the family, it’s guaranteed to be a fun evening.
In June and July, our swimming pool at Ora Me Harn Park will transform into a movie theater with two movie features. On June Saturday, 16, we will show Universal Picture’s “Despicable Me 3,” the latest installment of Gru and those trouble-making minions. On Saturday, July 21, the Force will be with us when we show Disney’s “The Last Jedi”.
In August, we move from the pool to our splash pad at Marana Heritage River Park to watch Paramount Animation’s “Sherlock Gnomes.” This event is always fun for the kids because not only can they play in the splash pad, but they can also frolic on the playground while still watching the screen.
Not only are the movies free, but families are free to bring their own food and beverages. We’ve seen everything from traditional tubs of popcorn and boxes of candy, to stacks of pizza and even some delicious homemade nachos. Fear not, if you don’t bring your own goodies, we usually have a food vendor on hand.
Bring your blanket and chairs, or you can rent some from us.
MUSIC IN MARANA
Our free Music In Marana concert series feature a variety of musical acts throughout the year at Crossroads at Silverbell District Park. Our first concert is slated for Saturday, April 7, and over the next few months we will bring a number of great local musical acts to the Town.
The concert series features progressive funk-rock band OnesAll, high energy Little House of Funk, Marana-native country artist Caiden Brewer, and classic rock band The Drift.
Live music isn’t only offered at these Saturday night concerts. There will be plenty of live music at Marana’s Star Spangled Spectacular on Wednesday, July 4 and the Marana Farm Festival on Saturday, September 29.
Those two festivals along with December’s Marana Holiday Festival and Christmas Tree Lighting make up our remaining signature events for this calendar year. All events are free. Star Spangled Spectacular is Southern Arizona’s largest Independence Day celebration with over 16,000 people in attendance. Marana Farm Festival features free carnival rides and a rodeo, and Marana Holiday Festival and Christmas Tree Light Show will once again feature a 40-foot tall digital light show set to music. All these events feature plenty of free activities for the kids and make a great family outing.
This summer will also see Marana ribbon cuttings for new parks projects including the opening of Tangerine Sky Park, the splash pad at Crossroads, and the new pocket park in Honea Heights.
Whether you like movies, music, big events, or just want to go to the park, Marana is the place for you and your family to have a fun, free time.
Visit MaranaEvents.com to plan your year with us.
Monique Hagberg is the Special Events Coordinator for the Town of Marana.
